Michael Ashburner, 2003-05-31

Item — Box: AV01, miniDV: CSHL1009

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Michael Ashburner speaks about topics relating to his participation in genomics and gene regulation research. His recollections of the key participants in the competition between the public and private efforts to sequence the human genome, Craig Venter's formation of Celera Genomics, details surrounding the 1996 Bermuda Principles on Data Release, and the first Collaborative Annotation Jamboree held in 1999 are among the topics discussed. Ashburner also relates his experiences coming to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory over a consecutive 27 year period: as a presenter at the Cold Spring Harbor Symposia, as a participant and instructor of a lab course, as a published author by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, and his encounters with Jim Watson [Watson, James D. 1928- .]

Involvement in Genomics
Dangers of Genomic Research
Mechanics of the Human Genome Project
Craig Venter and Celera
Collaboration with Celera
Whole Genome Shotgun Sequencing
Collaborative Annotation Jamboree
Sequence and Annotation Deposit into GenBank
Competition in Science: Public vs. Private
Jim Watson, Writer
Jim Watson at CSHL
CSHL Memories
Meetings and Courses at CSHL
Early Research on Gene Regulation

Dates

Creation: 2003-05-31

Creator

Ashburner, M (Interviewee, Person)
Pollock, Ludmila (Interviewer, Person)
Haslinger, Kiryn (Interviewer, Person)
Viteri, Carlos (Videographer, Person)
Clark, Clare (Transcriber, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online: https://library.cshl.edu/oralhistory/. Select tapes have been digitized thanks to support from CLIR Recordings at Risk Grant awarded in 2021, these tapes are available for research online via our Oral History Website and in person at CSHL Archives. Please contact CSHL Archives archives@cshl.edu with any questions regarding availability.

Biographical / Historical

Michael Ashburner was born on May 23, 1942, in Brighton, Sussex, England, and was educated at Cambridge. He received his B.A. (1964), M.A. (1968), Ph.D. (1968) and Sc.D. (1978) from the University of Cambridge, where he is currently Emeritus Professor of Biology in the Department of Genetics and a Professional Fellow of Churchill College. He was formerly the joint head of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Ashburner was also co-founder of "Flybase", the primary online database for Drosophila genetics and molecular biology, the "Gene Ontology Consortium", an effort to coordinate biological databases through a defined taxonomy of gene function, and the Crete Meetings, a bi-annual event focusing on the developmental and molecular biology of Drosophila melanogaster. Among many honors, he is the recipient of the G.J. Mendel Medal (Czech Republic 1998) and the George W. Beadle Medal (Genetics Society of America 1999).

Extent

1 Optical Disks : DVD ; 47 min

1 Cassettes : miniDV

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

General

Interview recorded on Hi-8 videotape, then transferred to DVD. DVD authoring and editing by Carlos Viteri. Transcription by Clare Clark. A later interview with Michael Ashburner was recorded on July 3, 2003. That interview is also part of the Cold Spring Harbor Oral History Project. See title: Talking science with Michale Ashburner [second interview].